Hughes et al. (1999) stated that traditional quantitative methods for modeling mechanical systems are in-appropriate for automated mechanical FMEA production. Functional modeling capitalizes on existing practices of describing components at the functional level when producing FMEA’s. They defined a functional model scheme that was tailored to the reasoning requirement imposed by the automation FMEA production for mechanical systems. Their initial work was directed to reduce the amount of engineer intervention required when converting pre-existing information resources such as CAD/CAM data into the functional model required for FMEA production. The focus of their work was kinematic systems have been the focus of work to date as the majority of the information stored in CAD/CAM produced files is associated with this domain
Rhee and Ishii (2003) demonstrated the systematic use of empirical data in performing Life Cost-Based FMEA and how it can improve the reliability and life cycle cost of complex systems such as a linear particle collider. Life Cost-Based FMEA aids not only design improvements and concept selection, but it also allows one to improve and plan preventive and scheduled maintenance of components. They concluded that Life Cost-Based FMEA has three main benefits: estimation of life-cycle cost, FMEA, and Service Mode Analysis (SMA). The method proposed by them inherently captures a system’s life-cycle costs related to component failures during design, manufacturing, installation, and operation. Designers can readily incorporate the changes in the model to estimate an improved life cycle cost. The root causes directed designers to focus their efforts on problem systems, components, and processes.